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| rise of OMXT index last year |
Estonia, the latest entrant to the eurozone and one of the single-currency bloc’s fastest-growing economies, is hoping that its improving financial fortunes will lead to increased new-issue activity on its stock market in the coming months. Last year, the Estonian stock market had its best ever year, with the Tallinn Stock Exchange’s OMXT index soaring by 72.6%. However, as a result of concerns about high sovereign indebtedness in the eurozone, which Estonia joined at the start of this year, the OMXT index had fallen 7% by the end of May.
On the economic front, the outlook remains rosy. Having contracted by 14% in 2009, GDP rose by 4.7% in 2010 and is forecast to post a similar increase this year.
Consequently, Andrus Alber, chairman of the Tallinn stock exchange, believes that the economic recovery in Estonia could pave the way for a number of initial public offerings this year. "We are expecting to see at least one new issue this summer," he says. "On the investor side there is definitely interest for new issues, both domestically as well internationally."